Some lucky chap over at Adventchildren.net was lucky enough to be at the SE party this week. Here's some of the news posted by him over there....


General Information

- Release Date: 9/13/2007
- The vocal theme will be "Why" by Ayaka.
- More information on the single will be presented on May 16th.
- There will be some sort of Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary PSP bundle.
- A Final Fantasy VII 10th Anniversary Potion drink is also going to be released.


New Character Information

Shizune - A female Turk who previously appeared in Before Crisis as Shuriken (Female). An orphan who was scouted by the Shinra company at a young age, she holds the record for being the youngest person to pass the Turks screening process and join their ranks. She has a mothering nature towards her comrades, and wields a crimson Shuriken called "Rekka" in battle.

Dr. Hollander - A former Shinra scientist who holds a grudge against Hojo, who had once been his rival for power in the Department of Scientific Research before being fired. He has stolen Shinra's cloning technology and enlisted Genesis to aid him in his bid for revenge.

Genesis Rhapsodos - A SOLDIER 1st class who enjoys reading from the epic, Loveless, and was once good friends with both Angeal and Sephiroth. He went missing during combat operations in Wutai along with many other SOLDIERs. He is working together with Dr. Hollander in attacking Shinra, but it seems that he has ulterior motives.

Dr. Hojo - Head of Shinra's Department of Scientific Research, and the primary focus of Hollander's attacks. He refers to Genesis as a degenerating monster, and as the foolish result of a time when they still believed that Jenova was an Ancient.


New Gameplay Information

It seems that as Zack meets more characters, more slots may appear in the DMW. Not all Limit Breaks take the form of attacks, as some seem to boost stats or restore large amounts of health or mana. One such Limit Break is "Lucky Star", which seems to occur when three portraits of Shizune line up. Reports also indicate that there are new materia for abilities such as Jump, which works the same way as the Dragon Knight's Jump command in previous games.

----------------------------------------

New trailer Transcript

- Zack and Angeal are in a room in the Shinra builging. Angeal heads out and Zack only sees his back.

Angeal: "Zack, you need to have a dream."

Zack: "Huh?"

Angeal: "If you want to be a hero, have a dream... and pride."


- Zack and Aerith are looking up at the blue sky.

Aerith: "It's beautiful..."

- Zack points at himself.

Zack: "My face?"

- Aerith laughs.

Aerith: No, your eyes.


- Midgar is under attack.

Reno: "The Turks are handlin' Sector 8."

Shizune: "Well then, Tseng, Zack. See you later."


- Cloud and Zack run into each other in Midgar.

Zack: "Ah, we meet again!"

Cloud: "Hello again."


- Zack goes into a rural house.

Zack: "Are you Angeal's mother?"

- The woman looks about 50, is slender and has hair like Angeal's. She's wearing a green jacket like a poncho.

Woman: "Ah, are you little Zack?"


- Angeal, having just rescued Zack in Wutai by using his Buster Sword.

Angeal: "You're more important than a sword."

- Angeal looks a little awkward over what he said.

Angeal: "Only a little, though."

- He makes a "Just a little" sign with his left hand, then holds it out to help Zack up.

Zack: "Thanks."


- Lazard projects an image of Genesis on the monitor.

Lazard: "SOLDIER: 1st Class, Genesis. He went missing in action during combat operations in Wutai a month ago."


- Junon, apparantly before or after the battle between Angeal, Sephiroth and Genesis at Junon.
- Genesis opens Loveless and starts reading. Angeal, beside him, hangs his head and crosses his arms.

Genesis: "What the goddess sends us is a mystery within an abyss"
Genesis: "We leap to our feet"
Genesis: "And create a small ripple"
Genesis: "In the calm waters of our heart"

Sephiroth: "Loveless, Chapter 1. If you have to open that every day, it'll become a pain to read soon enough."

- Sephiroth laughs a bit and taps his head.


- Zack, with his hair styled up, stands in the rain. A single white feather drops from the sky. Zack watches it fall into a puddle.

Zack: "Those wings... I want them too."


- From here, the theme song "Why" starts playing.

- Zack and Sephiroth are in the the woods, looking over the bodies of two soldiers.

Zack: "The renegade SOLDIER: 1st Class...?"

- Sephiroth turns the soldiers over. They both have Genesis's face.

Zack: "The same face?!"

Sephiroth: "Where is Angeal?"


- Shinra building?

Zack: "Did you get anything from Genesis?!"

Lazard: "Seems there wasn't anything at his home either."


- Angeal's home. Angeal's mother is laid out on her bed.

Zack: "?!"

- Angeal is behind Zack, and puts his hand on his shoulder. Zack lets out a shout.

Zack: "What the hell have you done?!"


---

Zack: "Project G..."

Sephiroth: "The project that gave birth to... Genesis."


---

Genesis: "We are monsters. We have lost our pride and our dreams."


---

Angeal: "Even now, I have to keep my pride. While I have this Buster Sword with me."


---

Genesis: "Your fame rightfully belongs to me. Even now..."

Sephiroth: "I don't care."


- Nibelheim. Zack is on the phone somewhere.

Zack: "Sorry, I'm kind of busy right now! I'll call you later."

Aerith: "It's okay, you don't have to."

Zack: "Gotcha."

- Zack is silent for a moment.

Zack: "Then I'll go see you!"

Aerith: "I'll be waiting."


- Cloud and Zack are on two inn beds.

Cloud: "If I was a SOLDIER too, then..."

Zack: "No. You'd be a monster."


---

Angeal: "Angels have only one dream."

Zack: "And that is?"

Angeal: "To be human."


- Angeal sticks the Buster Sword in the ground and turns to Hojo.

Angeal: "Where is Genesis?"


---

Genesis starts shooting fire at Hojo's lab.

Genesis: "That which the goddess sent us... what does that truly mean to us?"


- Genesis has a small green object in his right palm. He opens it and starts to quote Loveless.

Genesis: "I tell of you..."
Genesis: "Of your sacrifice..."
Genesis: "Here, at the world's end."


- Genesis aims his sword at Hollander (a middle-aged man with black hair and a beard, dressed in a labcoat).

Hollander: "You need me! If I wasn't here, who would keep you from degenerating?!"

- Genesis's hair has become white in places, and his clothes are getting ragged.

Genesis: "Jenova's cells."


- Nibelheim, during "the incident".

Sephiroth: "I'm here, Mother."

Zack: "Tell me, Sephiroth! Why did you kill the villagers?! Sephiroth!!"


- Sephiroth impales Cloud. He has Jenova's head in his hand.

Sephiroth: "Don't push it!"


- Zack is alone in the room with the Buster Sword.

Zack: "SOLDIERs fight all enemies... What should I fight? It doesn't matter!"

- Zack takes up the Buster Sword, which is heaver than he thought.


- A helicopter flies over the wastelands. We can hear voices over a transmission.

Tseng: "The army is on the move. You need to get there before they do. Take them alive, no matter what."

Rude: "Understood."

Reno: "Not enough time!"

---

Zack: "We'll meet again."

- Zack falls to the ground and reaches to the sky.

Zack: "Hey, Cloud. Looks like I made it back to Midgar."


- The escape starts going by in flashes.
- Zack, from Cloud's point of view. Cloud reaches out his hand but Zack turns and walks away. His vision blurs.
- Zack is carrying Cloud in the rain, and sets him down on the rocks.
- Aerith, wearing her FF7 clothes, looks after the flowers in the church.
- Zack does Angeal's "curse". (raising the Buster Sword and tapping his forehead)


- Cloud's pupils are unfocused, and there's blood on his face and hair. Zack has fallen and is bleeding, his hand losing strength. Cloud's eyesight gradually starts to come into focus. He sees the scene in front of him and screams.

- Trailer ends, displaying the game's logo.

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Playable Demo Transcipt

- A room that appears to be the Soldier Command Centre.
- Lazard is sitting at a computer desk, with Zack standing in front of him. Sephiroth is standing nearby with arms crossed. Everyobody seems pretty down.

Lazard: "Well done. From this day forward, you are promoted to SOLDIER: 1st Class."

- Even hearing that doesn't seem to cheer Zack up.

Zack: "... Huh? I'm not really... that happy."

Lazard: "Probably because so much has happened. I have something for you to do."

Zack: "Putting me on another mission?"

Sephiroth: "... Sorry."

Lazard: "Genesis must be killed. As must Angeal."

Zack: "You want me to do that?!"

Lazard: "The army is going... You're not trusted to handle it. You won't get anything done unless you build up confidence from your fellow SOLDIERs."

- Suddenly a siren blares out.

Lazard: "Intruders!"

Zack: "Where?!"

Lazard: "Sephiroth, go to the President's office. Zack, look after this floor!"

- While moving to the entrance, Shinra robotic weapons and troops will attack.
- After defeating the robots, a Genesis copy appears.

Zack: "The Shinra robots are attacking! And there is a Genesis Copy!"

- After the battle, Sephiroth appears.

Zack: "Sephiroth! What's going on?!"

Sephiroth: "It seems that the scientist, Hollander, stole the Copy technology from Shinra and joined with Genesis to attack Shinra."

Sephiroth: "Hollander once worked in Shinra's Department of Scientific Research, but he was fired after being defeated in a power struggle, and still holds a grudge."

Zack: "Yeah, but why would the jerk join up with Genesis?"

- After this, you exit to Sector 8, and run into Reno, Rude and Tseng at the fountain.

Reno: "The Turks are handlin' Sector 8."

Zack: "No way! Tseng, say something?"

Reno: "Leave Sector 8 to us."

- The Turk with the big shuriken is surrounded by monsters.

Zack: "She needs help!"

Tseng: "She'll be fine."

- She disposes of the monsters quite quickly.

Zack: "Wow..."

Zack: "Nice to meet you!"

- Zack shakes hands with the Turk.

Tseng: "Zack, aren't you on a mission?"

Turk: "I'm Shizune. You really are strong, definitely a SOLDIER: 1st Class."

Zack: "Well, since a SOLDIER's job is to fight..."

- In the next screen, Shizune attempts to fight a Genesis Copy with no mask and two rods in his hands, but is knocked back and her shuriken is stuck in the ground out of reach.

- Battle with Genesis Copy.

Zack: "This one's different from the masked ones!"

- When you beat it, it attempts to fly away but Zack cuts it down. Shizune goes and sits beside it.

Shizune: "When I was small, I wanted to have wings. To be like an angel."

- She touches the Genesis Copy's wings.

Zack: "Humans with wings are monsters."

Shizune: "Wings are... what signify someone who wants to be free."

Zack: "Maybe, yeah."

Shizune: "See you around, Zack."

- Zack's cellphone rings. It's Sephiroth, in the Sector 5 Reactor.

Sephiroth: "Come to the Sector 5 Reactor. Angeal has been spotted here. We need to find him before the Shinra army."

Zack: "...What for, to kill him?"

Sephiroth: "Well, we just might have to fail in that."

Zack: "Really?!"

Sephiroth: "Yes, really."

Zack: "You're the best!"



Square-Enix Party 2007
Crisis Core Demo Report, Scenario 2: He Who Surpasses Bahamut
Translation by: Pazuzu
Edited by: Suzaku & Schala-Kitty

- A highway in Midgar, at night. The road looks like it's been destroyed, and monsters are all over the place.
- There is a sign that reads, "Shin-ra Company 1.5 km".

Zack: "Dammit! Damn that Genesis!"

- He moves along the road and has event battles against masked soldiers, called G Assaults, who sprout single

black wings and retreat when they are defeated, as well as Shinra robots, and finally a mid-boss battle.

- After progressing a bit further, Angeal flies down and lands beside him.

Angeal: "Lend me your strength."

Zack: "What? What are you thinking?"

Angeal: "Well... I'm not sure either."

- Zack looks at Angeal with a surprised expression.

Angeal: "Sometimes it feels like my head is in a haze."

Angeal: "No matter what, I have to hold onto my pride. As long as I have this Buster Sword with me."

Angeal: "Zack, fight alongside me. Our enemies are all those who torment the Planet."

Zack: "My strength... I'll lend it to you."

- Angeal grabs Zack by the shoulders and picks him up.

Zack: "What're you doing?!"

Angeal: "I'm carrying you over there."

Zack: "I can walk, you know!"

- Angeal flies towards the Shinra building, carrying Zack.

Angeal: "Flying really isn't that bad."

- Sephiroth is fighting at the Shinra building. He's cutting his enemies down and using Blizzard magic on

them.
- Angeal and Zack come in through a broken window, Zack letting out a "Whoa" when he sees the scene.

Sephiroth: "You're late."

Angeal: "I'm tired."

- A report comes saying that the enemies are here, and they seem to be targeting Hojo.

Sephiroth: "Never mind Hojo."

Angeal: "... No choice, then. Sephiroth, you take the floors below. I'll handle the outside. Zack, you take the

floors above this one."

Zack: "Got it."

- Zack makes it to Hojo's room.

Zack: "Professor!"

Hojo: "Be quiet."

Zack: "Genesis's army is on the way! It's not safe to be here!"

Hojo: "I'm not afraid of some degenerating monster."

Zack: "... You mean Genesis?"

Hojo: "A foolish product of the time when we thought that mysterious life-form was an Ancient."

Zack: "Mysterious... life-form?"

Hojo: "The one sent from the heavens... Jenova."

Zack: "Uh...?"

Hojo: "Never mind, you don't need to understand. The purpose of a SOLDIER isn't to understand, it's to protect

me, the brains of Shinra."

- The black-winged Genesis comes in through the window.

Hojo: "Just as the rumours said!"

Angeal: "Genesis!"

Hojo: "Well, this is rare indeed. It seems Holland's monsters have become quite the army."

Zack: "Shut up!"

- Angeal quietly walks towards Genesis.

Genesis: "Loveless, Chapter 4."

Hojo: "The scene where the best of friends have to fight each other. An old novel. I read it to see if it might

be interesting research material, but nothing useful came of it."

Angeal: "How does it end?"

Hojo: "I don't know. The last chapter was missing and I was never able to find it."

Genesis: "But I have my own opinion."

Genesis: "We're monsters. We've lost our pride, and our dreams."

- Genesis starts shooting fire around Hojo's lab.

Genesis: "That which the goddess sent us... what does that truly mean to us?"

- Genesis flies out the window. He does a summon spell in the air, and is surrounded by a magical formation.
- Angeal grabs Zack and goes after Genesis.

Zack: "Summoning something again?!"

- Angeal drops Zack down to solid ground.

Angeal: "You can handle it."

Zack: "What? Hey!"

Angeal: "I know you can defeat it."

Zack: "Don't just leave me here!"

- Angeal and Genesis start fighting furiously in the air.
- Zack's cellphone rings.

Zack: "Aerith? Um, I'll call you back, a guest just arrived."

- He puts away the phone and draws his sword.

Zack: "Can't be rude to the guest, can I?!"

- Boss battle with Bahamut RETSU. Its special attack is Exa Flare.
- Translator Note: Retsu means "violent" or "furious". I am unaware of any Japanese fighter planes with the

name, but it may be a referance to turbulence.

- After the fight, Zack looks around, but Angeal and Genesis are gone.

Zack: "Where'd everyone go?"



Furthermore, here's a link to GamesRadar with their general reaction to the playable demo.

Games Radar CC-hands on (http://www.gamesradar.com/gb/psp/game/news/article.jsp?sectionId=1006&articleId=2007051292937227029&releaseId=20060924132434937071)

So, it seems everything is looking up for CC with early reports saying it's mighty impressive in many ways.

I think it's time to release a demo. :)